North East diaries - There and back

| Day 1 | Day 2(morning) | Day 2(the rest) | Day 3 | Day 4 | Last couple of days...

I was heading back to Bangalore, the next day, to make it in time to attend a friend's wedding. So the challenge ahead of me was to try and pick the right thing to do on my penultimate day of vacation.

There are so many things to do in Meghalaya, that one is spoilt for choice. However having a constraint of keeping this to a day trip, limited my options.

I met Nanu, the super wonderful taxi guy, in Shillong and the original plan was to head to Mawlyonng, which, as I have mentioned before, is renowned for being one of Asia's cleanest villages and also boasts of it's own Living Root bridge.

However, as we set off for Mawlyonng, I again asked Nanu if it was really worth the visit. Fortunately he was honest and recommended I give it a skip, for two reasons - Firstly that I had already seen the root bridges near Cheerapunji and second, that the place was slightly more touristy and a little overrated.

So I asked him to turn the car around and we headed to the sacred forest - Mawphlang.

The sacred grove in comparison to the grassland around it

The sacred groves or forests are a fantastic concept. From ancient times various tracts of forests have been designated as sacred groves and saved from deforestation, thus leading to wonderful green patches with lots of trees. It is said that if one takes away anything from the forest without permission from the Gods then punishment awaits.

It was a very pleasant walk through the forest, despite having to be accompanied by a mandatory guide. So all in all I was glad I changed plans.

Leave everything as you find it

super day!

The rest of my day I spent going around the different view points near Shillong. I had only one demand of Nanu - Take me to only those places that aren't frequented by tourists, and he did not disappoint.

Nanu mentioned that there was a view point that very few people knew about, a dam he said. to be honest I was skeptical, but since I did not have any better ideas I asked him to lead the way.
After a quick drive, we got to what seemed like a parking lot of an official looking building, we parked the car and Nanu led me through a narrow pathway to right behind the building and that opened up this view!

View of the river as it approaches Mawphlang dam

This was followed by visits to places where I was literally the only person around, such as this wonderfully named waterfall.

Sweet falls - Happy valley

and the this view point that gave me a birds eye view of Shillong, though this was crowded

Shillong city seen from Laitkor peak

With such views ended my penultimate day at Shillong, on the last day I was supposed to take the taxi back to Guwahati airport, as the helicopter service was not functional that day. This would mean that I had to bear the entire cost of the taxi all by myself.

However, to my pleasant surprise, as I was settling the bill a couple of things happened. Firstly I met this Shibani. I had had briefly met her during the arduous trek to the root bridges, where we just gave each other one of those friendly nods that fellow trekkers give each other when each is traveling alone. Co-incidentally she was staying at Aerodene too and  we exchanged notes on places to see etc. Turns out that Shibani was out doing a recce for a travel company she runs, called "Wonderful World", tagged "Women on their own trip". She figured out offbeat places and then would offer holidays for women of all ages. I think this is a fantastic concept and if you are a woman who love to travel to unique places then here is the facebook page you may be interested in!

Second, my super hosts at Aerodene asked me if I would mind a fellow traveler to share the ride and the costs to Guwahati airport. This was a french tourist who was feeling quite ill and wanted to head back. She spoke no English and the hosts thought that going with Nanu would be the safest bet.

I was more than happy to have the costs shared. The only glitch was that I had planned to spend a couple of hours at the museum in Shillong, en route to Guwahati. Turned out that this was not an issue!
The lady was kind enough to wait patiently in the taxi, while I spent a good 2.5 hours at the wonderful museum going through the various exhibits on display. The best part of the musuem is it's terrace. Though I call it a terrace it was more a slanted roof of sorts that was accessible to visitors and it afforded me some beautiful views of the city around!

With that I was done with Meghalaya. It has been a super trip to the Northeast and definitely one of many more to come. Obviously if you need help planning your trip, catch hold of me, more than happy to help! :D

North East diaries - Geared up to ride to Shillong on Day 3

| Day 1 | Day 2(morning) | Day 2(the rest) | Day 3...

Nov 5th 2014, Kaziranga, Shillong

I had traveled to Kaziranga like a king, alone by taxi. It had cost me a whopping 3700Rs. Not the amount of money that I had planned on spending, when I was traveling alone with a rucksack and a backpack. I had planned on heading to Shillong, since I did not have enough time to get to Arunachal. A taxi from Kaziranga to Shillong would have cost me about 7000Rs.

I had to make amends, and thus decided that I would try and take a cheaper form of transport to Shillong.

Now, on the way back towards Guwahati, the road forks at a place called Jorabat. One to head straight into the city (which is a few kilometers away) and the left turn takes you to Shillong.

Here is a hand-drawn map by yours truly to help depict, the general geography.

On the previous day, that is the day of the jeep safari, I had gone to a souvenir store near the park gates, that sold bus tickets and reserved a seat for myself on the earliest bus that went towards Shillong.
They got me a reservation from a place called Jorahat, which is where the bus started from. I was to get onto the bus at Kaziranga at 7:30am sharp.

This bus would take me to Jorabat, from where I was told I could get a shared taxi to Shillong.

Having learned not to underestimate the punctuality in Assam, I was at the bus stand at 7:15am. The drop off to the busstand from the resort cost be 200rs. which was expensive when compared to the bus ticket that had cost me 350Rs only!

The bus arrived at 7:25am and we were already on our way by 7:30. It was a superb ride. The weather was cool and pleasant, and the bus was quick. It got me to Jorabat as promised at 11am.

A short walk from where the bus dropped me, took me to the junction which lead to Shillong and there were a lot of Tata Sumo's waiting here. I got into one of them. They charged me 150Rs to take me to Shillong! Super cheap!

Then I realised, why it was this cheap. These folks regularly shuttle between Shillong and Guwahati, loading the vehicle to the brim. My taxi had 10 of us including the driver and to top it a couple of kids! The luggage went on top.

I got an interesting place to sit. I was straddling the gear box, with the gear right in between my legs!

This 92 odd kilometre journey is a climb into Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya and the trip took us about 3.5 hours. Trust me, the 2nd gear is the one I feared the most. The driver would reach out and with a crunch shift to 2nd. Eventually, I took up the pose that the footballers take, when they are defending against the free kick. I think I should have offered to change gears, rather than risk him doing the shifting. Maybe next time if I ever put myself in such a precarious position, I may do just that.
Not the most comfortable position to be in, but the journey was not too bad. We stopped once since the engine had overheated, due to the climb and once for lunch.

While a part of the road is well maintained, there is currently work underway to construct a 4 lane expressway between Shillong and Jorabat. So there are parts of the journey that are super bumpy and dusty.

There is a truck right in front of us that you cannot see, thanks to the dust

The large Umiam lake, as one gets closer to Shillong.

Once we got into Shillong (it had cost me just 500Rs.), I realised that Shillong is not the quaint little hill station I had imagined it to be. It was jam packed with traffic, from entering the city, to the Civil hospital, where I was supposed to get dropped off, took us about 30minutes.

I had spoken to one Ms.Sharlene who owned a place called the Aerodene cottage in Shillong about getting a place to stay, so I had to head there. Initially I had planned to take a local taxi to take me to the cottage. But having looked at the traffic, I decided to walk it. It was about 1.5 kms from where I had been dropped off, and the walk to the cottage, with the help of google maps and directions given over sms by Sharlene, helped me find the place easily and quicker than if I had taken a cab.

When I turned the narrow lane, that took me to the cottage I was refreshed again!

The place was beautiful, full of flowers and away from the hustle bustle of the main road, despite being close to the main road.

Aerodene cottage

The rooms

The walk had also helped, after a cramped ride to Shillong. I checked-in, had a quick shower and headed out to check out some place to have some coffee.

Having looked at  the traffic, I had decided to see shillong by walk. I love walking and I think the best place to explore any city is by walking.
I headed to Cafe Shillong, a nice coffee place on Laitumkhrah main road. This place was about 1.5 kms from the cottage. I snacked on chicken hot dog and washed it down with cups of Hot Chocolate.

Laitumkhrah road, had a lot of eating joints and also is home to "Caramel", apparently a very good pastry shop. I made a mental note to come back and get some pastries from here as had been recommended by a friend from Shillong. But I never got around to doing that. Maybe next time.

Shillong was cold and lovely to walk in. I got back in time for dinner at the cottage. Good food.

While I had no exact plans about what to do in Shillong, I knew I wanted to see the root bridges, which required a trek from a village near Cherrapunji. So that is what I planned for day 4.

To the root bridges!